This document provides information about the role and responsibilities of a proactive maintenance technician. It describes what a proactive technician is, what their typical day looks like, and the value they provide to an organization. Specifically: - A proactive technician is highly trained, focuses on preventative maintenance, ensures safety, and makes recommendations for improvement. - A typical day involves pulling work orders, gathering tools/parts, performing maintenance work safely and to specification, and closing work orders with proper documentation. - Value provided includes improved asset reliability through preventative maintenance, conducting repairs accurately to reduce rework, ensuring safe work environments, and providing metrics and recommendations to management.

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maintenance
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Proactive?
Are You
A Day in the Life of a Maintenance Technician
Ricky Smith
What is a Proactive Maintenance Additionally, a proactive maintenance techni- At this time, the maintenance technician per-
Technician? cian makes sure the work site is clean and safe forms the particular work to specification. Fol-
when completing work. Work safety is always a lowing all procedures, the maintenance techni-
A proactive maintenance technician is a high-
priority. cian cleans the area and releases the equipment
ly-trained professional who is an expert in his
back to production in a “like new” status accord-
or her skills area, has knowledge of other skills
ing to the definition of maintenance:
areas, including safety and production, and has
a desire to learn more. This professional knows
and can implement a failure modes driven
maintenance strategy for any piece of equip-
ment. A proactive maintenance technician uses
knowledge and experience to ensure the main-
tenance process is optimized by making con-
structive recommendations to management
concerning improvement areas.
Once production operates the equipment
To ensure success, a proactive maintenance
to standard, the maintenance technician clos-
technician is proactive in everything he or she Figure 1: Sample Wrench Time Study Results es out the work order with the proper failure
does. This person constantly reviews informa-
codes, failure causes, time taken to complete
tion to ensure procedures are accurate and is-
Perhaps most importantly, a proactive mainte- the job and any other information required in
sues are resolved quickly and does what is re-
nance technician is always proud of the work he the synopsis.
quired to ensure the work is repeatable. Such
or she conducts or influences. No pat on the back
a professional leads by example and takes re-
is required, just the personal satisfaction in know-
Before Shift Ends
sponsibility for training new employees on how Prior to leaving for the day, the maintenance
to be a proactive and effective maintenance ing that the job was completed successfully.
technician reviews the work scheduled for the
technician. What Does a Typical Day Look Like for next day from the job plan package left by the
A successful proactive maintenance techni- a Proactive Maintenance Technician? planner/scheduler. This ensures that the proac-
cian follows known best repair practices in all tive maintenance technician knows the job and
A proactive maintenance technician be-
tasks and has a suitable reference book as part validates that the parts are in the kitted area.
gins the day by pulling a job package from the
of his or her tool set, such as Industrial Machinery The maintenance technician also participates in
scheduled work box, goes to where the parts
Repair: Best Maintenance Practices Pocket Guide a tool box training session (Figure 2) concerning
from MRO-Zone. A proactive maintenance tech- are kitted, pulls the required parts and tools,
safety, new work instructions, or technical train-
nician is certified as a lubrication specialist and and leaves for the job site. Because the planner
ing ideas to increase his or her knowledge base
knows and follows best lubrication practices. has made sure that all special tools, parts and
and help teammates by sharing this knowledge.
procedures are at the job location, the main-
On a daily basis, a proactive maintenance
technician begins work on time, ends work on tenance technician can begin on time since all What Value Does a Proactive
time, takes the allotted break(s) without taking the equipment, parts, tools and procedures are Maintenance Technician Provide
additional time and always makes the best use ready to execute. to a Proactive Organization?
of time. He or she knows the applicable planned The maintenance technician arrives at the job As previously discussed, a proactive mainte-
and scheduled work for the week and inspects site and is greeted by a production worker, who nance technician is always on time, performs
the next day’s tools and parts for the sched- has cleaned and cooled down the equipment work to standard, makes recommendations to
uled work. Wrench time is high (55 percent and per the maintenance schedule so the mainte- improve work for the next time it is executed,
greater), as shown in Figure 1, because the main- nance technician has the optimum amount of ensures tools are operational, verifies produc-
tenance technician identifies scheduling delays time to perform preventive maintenance, cor- tion has started up the equipment to standard
and makes recommendations for improvement. rective maintenance, etc. and on time, and performs all work in a safe en-
50 dec/jan12

3. vironment. In addition to all of this, a proactive
maintenance technician adds value by working
with production and operations as a team to
resolve equipment problems, whether mainte-
nance or production related, to optimize asset
reliability and increase capacity.
The effect of a proactive maintenance tech-
nician’s ability to conduct preventive mainte-
nance as a “controlled experiment.” Because the
proactive maintenance technician always takes
the time to make repairs accurately, they are
more often than not sustainable with no rework
required.
A proactive maintenance technician is capable
of correcting defects and making repairs using re-
peatable, effective procedures that reduce rework.
A maintenance technician also has the ability to
write effective, repeatable procedures following
company guidelines to ensure other technicians
have the tools to perform quality work.
With a focus on safety, the proactive main-
tenance technician ensures all work places are
free of hazards and is skilled at using the tools
required to reduce potential hazards. In-depth
training in the identification of failure modes
and their causes for all equipment in the main-
tenance technician’s area and vast knowledge on
how to prevent or identify failures early are key
components for preventing a failure. Further-
more, the proactive maintenance technician is
trained and can execute specific advanced main-
tenance tools, such as ultrasound, infrared and la-
ser alignment tools, with precision when needed,
thus reducing the need for additional personnel.
A proactive maintenance technician is con-
fident in providing management with metrics
that show asset reliability is improving. Further,
he or she has the ability to make recommenda- Figure 2: Tool Box Training Example
tions for equipment improvement based on fail-
ure reports and metrics (Figure 3).
Measuring the Effectiveness of a
Proactive Maintenance Technician
The metrics listed in Table 1 should be used
by the maintenance technician solely to expand
knowledge and improve skill sets in a certain
area. If a metric is going in the wrong direction,
the maintenance technician should go to the
maintenance supervisor for guidance. Manage-
Figure 3: Mean Time Between Failure of Different Pumps in a Specific Plant
ment must ensure that all areas listed in Table 1
Table 1: Technician Balanced Scorecard
are fully supported by the maintenance supervi-
sor, production supervisor, storeroom manager Metric Indicator
and planner/scheduler, as well as reliability and
maintenance engineering.
Percent of rework Lack of effective planning and scheduling
Schedule compliance Lack of effective scheduling
Ricky Smith, CMRP, CPMM, is Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) for area of responsibility Lack of effective procedures; operator error
the Senior Technical Advisor for
GPAllied. Ricky has over 30 years Safety occurrences Lack of safety awareness or compliance
experience in maintenance as a
maintenance manager, mainte- Mean Time Between Repairs on assigned equipment Lack of effective procedures
nance supervisor, maintenance
engineer, maintenance training Number of times in storeroom by month Lack of effective planning
specialist and maintenance consultant, and is a well-
known published author. www.gpallied.com Reduction in energy in area of responsibility Lack of an effective maintenance strategy
dec/jan12 51